Rosemary Beach Florida, USA

Spring break called for another trip to Seaside/Rosemary Beach! I had a blast even though the water was a bit chilly and I did a lot of different things than the first time I visited. 

Where we stayed

We stayed in the same condo complex we did the first time, just in a different room. I personally thought our room we had the first time was decorated nicer but they both were very clean and functioned the same. Sadly, I do not have pictures of this unit. 

We have decided that Rosemary is our favorite town out of all the 30a beach towns. It has cute houses like this nestled all through stone pathways with trees and lights!

What we ate

We mostly ate out and for more details on the restaurants we tried, see the 30a restaurants post on my blog linked in the button below. 

Restaurants in 30a

Some of our favorites included the Hub, Smallcakes 30a, and pizza by the sea. 

Of course, however, being in a condo we did stop at the Publix for some snacks and breakfast food. In addition, lunch was hard to find most days because we didn’t want to leave the beach to go eat especially since it was gated, so we wanted to find some lunch meat. Going to Publix was a mad house. The Publix near our condo (not even on the 30a highway) was the closest Publix to ALL of the houses located in Rosemary, Seaside, Seacrest, Watercolor, and Alys Beach… so it was slammed! If you don’t like loads of people and want to get your food before it sells out (because the sandwich meat we wanted was sold out) then I recommend getting in there before everyone else or stopping on the way down there. 

What we did 

Once again I was here with my friend. We passed the time by shopping, eating, driving around, and going to the beach. During the summer we mostly went to the beach right in front of our condo complex but we decided we wanted to go on the beach in Rosemary beach. Upon arrival, we noticed the gate to get on the beach has a code that is given to those staying in Rosemary only. We managed to get in as someone was walking out. It’s a nice thought of them to code the beach gates but it honestly is just a hassle because we got on the beach anyway… 
Also, it is important to note that the beach codes are not the same along 30a so even if you are staying in Ally’s beach, you can’t come on the beach in Rosemary. 

Crowds and more

Personally, I enjoyed the beach much more during the summer. The water is warmer and the place is crowded but not like it is on spring break. Spring break has horrible traffic and crowds on the beach. I was definitely tip toeing over towels which can only be placed behind all the chairs, far from the water. However, spring break has much better night life and energy than in the summer. So, depending on what you are looking for, plan accordingly. 

Photo Ops!

If you know me, you know I love photos. My friend and I went to this pier to take photos (pier pictures below) and returned to the same spot to take sunset photos on a different day. The pier was located in PCB at pier park, just 10-15 minutes from our condo. 

Jetski Tour

This was so much fun!! We went on a jetski tour out to an island and saw DOLPHINS! Our tour guide (who’s name I cannot remember but I want to say Matt) was super cool! He even said we could get in the water with the dolphins if they came close enough. We could also turn off the jetski to allow dolphins to get really close. We went at about 10 am which was perfect because it was getting hot, but it was still morning which is the best time to see dolphins. The tour lasted two hours and we could get lunch right after. If I were to do it again I would have asked about turning off the jetski sooner. It is allowed but it was not told to us until my friend asked so we missed out on a few encounters with dolphins because they were afraid of the jetski. I would have also brought goggles or a mask. I quickly realized when he said “get in the water” that I was totally in, but I wouldn’t be able to see. 
The tour basically went like this: 
1. We get our jetski and all fall into line which is decided for us. We had two other jetskis with us. 
2. We follow our tour guide around in the inlet water way and we look for dolphins. Keep an eye out for boats!
3. We observe dolphins and go out into the open ocean and we found another dolphin feeding 
4. We head back in and drive around in the inlet waters and do turns and go really fast
5. We head over to the island. We had the guy take our picture and then walked over to the other side to hang out. 
6. We got back on the jetskis, drove around a little more and then headed back 
7. We parked (watch for boats) and then we left for lunch… it was great!
Below is a picture from the island and I think the cost was $150 so I paid $75 for my half. Very affordable and worth it!

On the Beach After Curfew

If you are relatively young and going here during spring break, my biggest advice for you is to know your rights! There is an exceptionally large police presence hunting down and harassing a large number of people, especially teenagers for no reason. People are on vacation, they want to stay out late and even go on the beach. There was a “beach curfew” that stated if you were under 18 the beach closed to you at 8:00. First of all, the sun doesn’t even set until after 8. Second, the police were kicking anyone and everyone off the beach, no matter how old they were, which isn’t even allowed. 
They were also using cars to chase large groups of people down the beach and standing by the gates because if you actually got scared enough to leave the beach, they wanted to know who you were and where you were staying (and if you knew the gate code). Furthermore, they stood on street corners stopping people to ask where they were staying and telling them to go home. AND if that wasn’t enough, there were police in cars on their loud speaker telling everyone to go home because it was past curfew. This was also wrong because the curfew only applied to the beach… so technically people could stand in the square as long as they wanted. 
I had my fair share of harassment by the police during this trip and to be honest, it is really just annoying to be harassed or to be constantly watching other people be harassed while you are trying to relax and vacation. 
There were adults out eating dinner and restaurants were open but the police were yelling at me to go home because I was walking on the sidewalk and I am young… very frustrating 
I will say this was during COVID times before the vaccine was being distributed so it may be different now. However, COVID was still raging during the summer and I did not encounter any obnoxious behavior by the Walton county PD.